He’s one of the most recognisable faces on television but Sid Sloane has made the difficult decision to step down from presenting on children’s TV channel CBeebies after more than a decade. Dave Owens hears how it’s just the beginning for the performer beloved of a nation’s little ones

PARENTS across the land will be wearing black armbands this year to mourn the loss of Sid Sloane from our television screens.

The long-serving CBeebies presenter has appeared on the children’s pre-school channel for more than a decade and has now made the difficult decision to depart for pastures new.

However, with links still to be aired and Sid on our screens with role-playing show Let’s Play, which he presents with Port Talbot native Rebecca Keatley, he’ll still be very much around.

“Let’s Play will be on air throughout the year, so I won’t be completely off the channel. I think you’ll always find my presence on CBeebies, but in a much smaller way. And I’ll be free to creatively pursue all the things that come my way.”

Parents and children might actually be seeing more of him as he heads out on a UK tour with Sid’s Show – a new one-man stage production featuring games, songs, poems and magic. So is this a farewell tour for the 34-year-old?

“No, if anything it’s farewell and hello,” he states firmly. “This is a continuation of Sid, a new form of Sid. I now will be embracing all the opportunities that have come from all the hard work I have put in as a presenter on CBeebies.

“I’ve been there 11 years and I just thought it was time to move on,” he says of his decision to step down from his presenting role. “I’ve got far more potential in terms of talent than people have seen. If you look at Let’s Play, you can see I’m able to take on characters and use my acting skills.

“However, being on CBeebies has completely changed me and the strong sense of responsibility I feel towards our children and more importantly those I’m in direct communication with. Every child matters. I believe the innocence and wonderment and possibilities that they show to us is totally amazing.”

It appears Sid has many irons in the fire. He tells me about a host of publishing and merchandising ideas he has, but first up however is Sid’s Show, a venture he’s hugely excited by.

“Sid’s Show is the greatest show on Earth,” he laughs. “Funnily enough there’s a lot of me in it and I’ve got a couple of little friends with me as well. Basically the show revolves around me and the audience heading off on a journey to discover where my shoes and socks are. Obviously it’s urgent because I need my shoes and socks, so we venture off into my imagination, stopping off at places likes the sea, the beach, the jungle, outer space and we also meet an alien. And the alien helps me to get a new pair of socks, by finding me some wool to knit me some socks. And then we journey back home in a space rocket. Simple really!”

The presenter is not just well known in the UK, he’s also a familiar face abroad thanks to his presenting CBeebies in South Africa. He confesses he does get recognised and approached a lot – and by the most unlikely of people.

“I was filming Let’s Play at the same studio as Davina McCall was recording a fitness video,” he recalls. “She went past my dressing room and I saw my producer look to the hallway and I couldn’t see what she was looking at. I imagined by the look on my producer’s face that there was a child there wanting to say hello.

“So I walked to the door and it was Davina McCall. At first she was completely lost for words, then was like, ‘Oh my God, it’s Sid, you’ve been in my house for years. All my kids have grown up with you. Oh my God, it’s Sid!’ That’s all she could say, she literally couldn’t say anything else!”

Sid, who grew up in South London with three brothers and one sister, now lives in Brighton with his partner and a 15-year-old son – someone who has had to cope with the demands of having a TV personality for a father.

“He went through a phase when it wasn’t cool having a dad on CBeebies because he became too old for it all,” explains Sid, of his son’s growing pains. “It didn’t last too long because all his mates really liked CBeebies. They all come up to me and say, ‘are you Josh’s dad, Sid from CBeebies?’

“And I think they’re winding me up because they’re teenage boys and they’re nearly the same size as me and I’m thinking to myself, ‘are they winding me up?’ Then they run off and come back with a piece of paper saying ‘can you sign this for me!’

For the future, there’s obviously plenty still to come from Sid Sloane, but he does let slip he harbours one great ambition.

“I would love to go on Strictly Come Dancing. Please tell them to put me on there, I will eat up that dancefloor. I’d love to do it. Sign me up!”

Alex Winters – The CBeebies presenter from Cardiff on his colleague and friend:

WHEN I first found out I was offered the job on CBeebies I immediately felt a rush of adrenaline and nerves as I realised I would sometime soon not only be meeting children’s television legend Sid Sloane but actually presenting alongside him. As a dad, this was a daunting but hugely exciting prospect for me.

I remember getting butterflies in anticipation of meeting Sid for the first time. I was in studio and I’d heard that Sid was in make up, I felt like a child preparing to meet Father Christmas. I beamed as he walked into studio with his wonderfully cool, cheery swagger.

The first links we presented together are lost from my memory. I have NO clue what they were, all I remember is smiling bigger than ever before while trying not to stare. At Sid.

I have huge respect for Sid. I care about his thoughts and opinions, he’s very wise and offers wonderful advice. He’s wise beyond his years. Working with Sid is always so much fun. He has a great sense of humour and manages to be a big kid while remaining cooler than Marvin Gaye sat in a fridge.

He’s generous, thoughtful and kind. A very genuine person.

Sid’s Show is at St David’s Hall, Cardiff on Monday, February 11. Tickets priced £12 adults, £10 children are available from the box office on 029 2087 8444 or via www.stdavidshallcardiff.co.uk